General Information

Who Deserves Your (Biker) Vote?

Back in February 2011, members of the OCC Executive and the OCC Political Action Committee delivered a presentation, to the Minister of Transport for Ontario, requesting a change to the rules governing HOV access to include single rider motorized vehicles. The presentation was not successful and we were patted politely on our heads and sent away. During that meeting, I inquired as to the lack of interest in biker related issues (by the current Liberal government) citing the absence of ANY government representative in attendance at the BRO Fallen Riders Memorial which is held every year on the front lawn of Queens Park. The minister made a big show of delegating one of her minions to note the event and make sure that someone would represent her office at the memorial. Fast forward to the memorial and the absence of political presence was, once again, non-existent. I cracked to one of the security guards on duty who found my inquiry, as to representative attendance on a Saturday, quite amusing but I was not amused. Motorcycle riders are the fastest growing demographic regarding licensing and vehicle registration and yet we are unable to find any government consideration in addressing our valid concerns regarding motorcycle issues in Ontario. Over the past four years, the Ontario Confederation of Clubs has collected over 2000 signatures in support of single-rider access to Ontario HOV lanes but the current Liberal government will not consider our petition and continues to display a complete disregard for biker related issues.
This October, we find ourselves, although briefly, occupying the position of power. Now it is our turn to display callousness and arrogance by vaporizing the Liberal non-representative in our area. I realize that the spectrum of choices is dull but the current government has displayed a complete lack of impetus and concern regarding a no-brainer change to the existing rules governing HOV access. As a voter, I believe that this displays the three-monkey stance so commonplace with majority governments. This is a government that no longer considers the concerns of the citizens it purports to represent, preferring instead to blindly follow the dictates of the Liberal party mandate. It’s time to dump Dalton and his disinterested attitude toward unresolved biker issues in the Province of Ontario.
One final note . . . I attended Critter’s recent Show &Shine (great event, Brother) and while in conversation with a full patch member of a local club, I was astounded to learn that there are yet bikers out there that are not aware of the OCC petition seeking single-rider access to Ontario HOV lanes located on 400 series highways. Interested parties and supporters are invited to sign our petition online by visiting www.ipetitions.com/petition/occ or by emailing treasurer@occ4u.org and I’ll get a petition sheet to you via return email.
Larry Lilly
OCC Treasurer